


Hide and Seek.

by reidbyers



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-28 11:46:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10830627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reidbyers/pseuds/reidbyers
Summary: Spending time with Spencer and your niece was one of your favourite things in the world, especially since they were your favourite people; this only made it harder to handle when she went missing.





	Hide and Seek.

“Jemma? Have you got your shoes on?” You called out from the kitchen while you finished doing the buttons of your coat up, when you walked out you saw Spencer crouched down helping Jemma with tying her shoelaces. The sight made you smile, your brother and his wife were out of town for the weekend and had asked you to look after their daughter for the short about of time and had been perfectly fine with Spencer coming and helping out. You mentally thanked all the serial killers for taking a break and allowing Spencer to have some time free from being cooped up in a plane, or in another state.

“There you go, all ready.” Spencer stood up and smiled down at the little girl who was now pulling her coat off of the hanger, you loved how good he was with kids and you loved how wonderfully Jemma had taken to him, it was clear she loved her uncle Spencer and it warmed your heart.

You’d spent the day together, first you made made pancakes with blueberries and enjoyed them over Saturday morning cartoons, then spent some time being introduced to Jemma’s favourite toys before she announced she wanted cookies, a strong sweet tooth ran in the family apparently. So you were getting ready to go to the local grocery store to get some ingredients, plus it would be nice to get outside the house after being cooped up all day.

As you walked over to the front door, you managed to sneak Spencer a kiss, savoring the bashful look that came over his face from the brief intimacy.

The car ride over to the store was filled with singing along with the radio, no one really knew the lyrics so rather than singing along it was more like random improvisation along to the music. It was lovely though, all the sweet moments made you realise how wonderful life would be with you own family one day. You hadn’t yet spoken to Spencer about the prospect of having a family one day but you already knew he’d agree, the idea of having curious little children running around your home, a wide smile like your own and sparkling eyes like their father was one you weren’t sure you had the patience to wait for. Once at the store, you helped Jemma out of her car seat and walked hand in hand inside, Spencer right beside you.

“So, what are you thinking: milk chocolate or white chocolate chips?” You smiled down at her, she had been distracted by a line of Disney Princess dolls displayed in almost the perfect position for parents and their childrens to see as they entered. You let her tug you towards the toys, Spencer only smiled and followed along with you.

“Both! And this!” Jemma went up onto her tiptoes and pointed at a Cinderella doll, as much as you wanted to spoil her with everything she wanted; you doubted your brother would be too happy about that decision.

“Your birthday’s coming up soon so why don’t you try and wait until then, okay sweetheart?” You slowly began to usher her away from the dolls despite her complaints, with her birthday in a little over two weeks you had already gone a little overboard with gift shopping, your living room slowly beginning to look like Christmas morning with perfectly wrapped presents that Spencer had lovingly helped you make perfect. He had even gotten her a gift even though she wasn’t his niece by blood, a book of fairy tales his mother had read to him when he was a child himself.

“I don’t remember the last time I baked this much.” You said while dropping two bags of chocolate chips into your basket, in reality you weren’t much of a cook but having a five year old excitedly cheer you on as you attempted to flip pancakes was definitely boosting your confidence.

”2014, you attempted to bake Rossi a cake for his birthday but left it in the oven for too long and almost set your apartment on fire.” Spencer recalled with a fond look on his face, you let go of Jemma’s hand so you could gently slap him on the arm.

“Hey! We don’t talk about the great 2014 cake incident.” You tried to sound annoyed but the smile on Spencer’s face was just too cute so instead you kissed him, another quick peck like before but still enough to make your stomach blossom with butterflies. “Don’t listen to your uncle Spencer, Jem. I’m a great baker.” You turned around to look at Jemma but instead was met with a blank space, immediately you scanned the surrounding area for any sight of her red coat or the curl of her pigtails but she was gone.

Without another word, you dropped the shopping basket and hurried forward, hoping that maybe she’d just wandered off around the corner or gone back to look at those dolls but she wasn’t there. It was like she had just vanished into thin air, the store was large so there was always the possibility she had just ran away to feel some independence but that didn’t bring peace to you, she was still so little.

“Where did she go? She was just here!” You exclaimed as you rushed down each aisle, Spencer hot on your tail. You’d been with him long enough to know the kind of things people did, people weren’t inherently bad but there were people who did awful things; like snatch up children. If you thought about the possibility of Jemma being taken you knew you’d just break down so you had to remind yourself that she was a smart girl, taught never to go with strangers; that wouldn’t help if she was taken by force though.

“Did you see her Spencer? You were looking in her direction you must have seen her leave.” It felt like an eternity but you had gone down every aisle and there was no sight of her, plenty of children happily with their guardians but Jemma was nowhere to be seen. Spencer shared the same look of panic on his face but also a touch of guilt, he shook his head in response to your question.

“I… I wasn’t paying attention to her, we were talking and I got distracted…she’s going to be fine (Y/N)” You wanted to be comforted by Spencer’s words but you were too busy panicking, it was a struggle to keep your breathing normal, too busy racking your brain with all the possibilities of what happened to Jemma. It felt like the world was moving around so fast around you, muffled like driving past streets lights in the dead of night, blurred and humming.

“We were talking for less than thirty seconds! How can someone just disappear in that short of time!” You gasped out, tears threatening to fall down your cheeks, you weren’t truly angry at Spencer, more so at yourself for letting go of Jemma’s hand to flirt with him. “She’s so little, Spencer! If someone took her she can’t defend herself!” It was the thought of someone harming her that brought you over the edge.

Nothing felt real, all you could focus on was how your hands were simultaneously shaking and numb at the same time. The logical side of your brain had stopped working and now all you could think of was the horrific things some sicko would love to do with a young child, you had heard horror stories about children being abducted and never seeing their families again but it never felt personal because you didn’t have a child of your own. Now there was a chance you’d have to explain to your brother that his daughter had gone missing and it was all your fault.

Spencer didn’t pull you into a hug like he wanted to, he knew that you needed the space so instead he put his hands on your shoulders and got you to look up at him.

“We are going to find her, she can’t have gone far.” Spencer knew the statistics about child abduction, spurting out a list of numbers at you wouldn’t be helpful in your current state but he knew 90% of children who have been labeled missing weren’t taken, rather gotten lost or ran away. He didn’t blame you for panicking, to say he wasn’t scared too would be a lie but were was a huge chance that Jemma had just gotten lost somewhere and just needed them to find her. “Focus on me, try to steady your breathing.”

You hadn’t even realised you were hyperventilating, trying to act normal didn’t work so instead you did what Spencer told you, taking long breaths in before exhaling. You didn’t care if you looked crazy, it felt like you were dying, your heart beating so hard like it wanted to explode out of your chest. Spencer slowly started leading out of the middle of the store, instead to a less crowded area with seating.

“I need to find her.” You breathed out as you lowered yourself down onto the bench, Spencer knelt down in front of you and took your hands into his.

“You aren’t of any help in the midst of a panic attack, just focus on your breathing.” Even though you felt terrible for sitting down while Jemma was still nowhere to be seen, Spencer was right. For her sake, you focused your mind on stopping hyperventilating.

“Announcement, can (Y/N) and Spencer please come to the customer service desk. We have your niece here waiting.” A woman’s voice came over the speakers around five minutes later and your head snapped up at the mention of your name, you felt your body fall as it untensed up; still not over with your panic attack but more relieved than ever before. Spencer helped you up and together you hurried to the front of the store where the customer service desk was. As soon as you saw the red material of her coat you started crying again, for a different reason this time.

“Is this your aunt and uncle?” The woman running the desk asked Jemma, she watched as the young girl nodded her head before walking right into your open arms. The feeling of relief that washed over you as you held Jemma in your arms, a mixture between a sob and a laugh coming escaping your lips when you felt her arms wrap around you, it was a feeling you both loved and never wanted to feel again.

“Why are you crying”? Jemma asked as you knelt down in front of her once putting her down, her lips pouted in confusion at the tears still streaming down your face. You just laughed and shook your head, reaching up to rub at your cheeks.

“I thought we lost you, honey.” You explained, holding her hand tightly as you looked up at Spencer who looked also relieved, a little breathless from all the worry running through him. “Where did you go?”

“I forgot my gloves and I went to go get them.” Jemma explained with an even more confused look on her face, you just nodded your head and tried not start crying again out of sheer comfort in knowing she was totally fine, no one had tried to take her. “Your hands were cold, auntie (Y/N).” She looked up at Spencer who had crouched down next to you,

“Coming and asking the nice lady at the desk to find us was very smart, you shouldn’t run off without an adult though.” Spencer explained with the softness in his voice that he reserved purely for children, he knew she was young and didn’t know how much panic she had caused so he didn’t want to make it appear like he was angry with her. Jemma just nodded her head, her pigtails bouncing as she did so.

“Can we still make cookies?” She asked with a beaming smile, you smiled and ruffled her hair before standing up with Spencer, taking a tight hold of her hand again. Spencer thanked the woman at the desk as the three of you started to walk away.

Later that evening, after the cookies had been made and surely after all eaten, you sat on the couch with Jemma asleep on your lap and Spencer snoozing off on your shoulder. It was peaceful and exactly what you needed after a day that had dragged on forever. While what you went through wasn’t pleasant or something you ever wanted to go through, it had reminded you that having a child wasn’t all good times. There were scary parts, constant worry and anxiety filling your mind over whether your child would be okay, but in the end it was worth it for the peaceful moments like this, with the ones you loved.

 


End file.
